Oleoresin treatment



I l K i Patented Feb. 1, 1944 OLEORESIN TREATMENT! Donald A. Lister, Brunswick, Ga., assignor to Hercules Powder Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application September 6, 1940,

Serial No. 355,615

5 Claims.

This invention relates to a process of obtaining a highly purified rosin from crude pin oleoresin. Crude pine oleoresin is obtained by scarifying the bark of the pine treeand catching the exudate in a suitable container. This material as collected from the forestis a viscous, semi-crystalline mass contaminated with sand, wood chips, particles of bark and various other kinds of foreign matter. This crude oleoresin is exceedingly unstable in its chemical composition and from the time it exudes from the trees, it is Continually undergoing various chemical changes. It is also acid in its action and wherever it comes into contact with metals especially iron, it tends to pick up still further impurities. When this oleoresin is subjected to treatment for the recovery of rosin, the effect of these various contaminating agents is carried over into the rosin anda dark colored rosin is obtained which is at a serious disadvantage today because paleness in color is a necessary characteristic of rosin for the majority of uses.

In order to make a more merchantable and higher quality product, it has been the practice of the prior art to treat the rosin remaining after the volatile matter has been removed from the oleoresin with various agents for the removal of the contaminating bodies. While causing some improvement in color, the rosin so produced still has a much darker color than'is desirable.

A leading object of the present invention is to provide an improved process of producing rosin of light color.

Another object is to provide an improved proc ess of producing gum rosin of light color from crude pine oleoresin.

Another object is to provide a process for producing from crude pine oleoresin gum rosin of ilighter color than that heretofore obtained.

Another object is to produce from crude pine oleoresin gum rosin of a given-lightness of color more effectively and more economically than is possible with known methods.

Other objects will more fully hereinafter appear.

I have discovered that, when crude pine oleoresin is refined chemically, there is obtained a much higher grade of rosin than is the casewhere the crude oleoresin is first distilled to remove the turpentine and the rosin residue is refined, as is the usual practice. I have discovered that the refining action is still more efiective if the crude pine oleoresin is dissolved in a, suitable solvent, and the solution so obtained is subjected to the chemical refining process hereinafter disclosed.

By chemically refining the crude pine oleoresin prior to or at the latest simultaneously with its subjection to any appreciable degree of heat, a much higher refining eificiency and efiectiveness is obtained than is the case where the crude oleoresin is subjected to heating or stilling and is later subjected to chemical refining. Treating the crude oleoresin before it has been subjected to any appreciable degree of heat is unexpectedly effective compared to the prior practice of chemicall treating finished rosin. In this specificstion, and in the claims appended hereto, the terms appreciable degree of heat orfmaterially elevated temperature are intended to designate a degree of heat or temperature such as to cause discoloration of the oleoresin or stabilize the frac tion of color therein against chemical refining in accordance with the present invention. For example, th crude oleoresin should not have been previously heated to a temperature in excess of about 70 C. to about 80 0., and preferably should not have been heated to a temperature in excess of about 50 C. The terms referred to are intended to denote such a degree of heat.

The process in accordance with this invention preferably comprises the treatment of crude pine oleoresin, free of extraneous matter and water,

and prior to the distillation thereof for removal of turpentine and other volatile terpenes, in. solution in a suitable water immiscible organic solvent with an aqueous chemical refining medium, and thereafter recovering the rosin by suitable means. I have found that this process is unexpectedly considerably more effective in producing a light colored rosin than a similar treatment applied to the rosin directly recovered from the oleoresin. I am unable to give any exact reason" for this, but I have noted the fact that the refining efficiency possessed by the oleoresin increases as the degree of heating, to which it has been subjected prior to refining, decreases. I

In proceeding in accordance with myinvention crude pine oleoresin, as obtained from the forest, composed approximately of 3 parts of rosin to 1 of turpentine, containing amounts of foreign material or trash ranging from about 0.5% to 5.0% of the weight of the oleoresin and containing suspended water to the extent of about 4% to 15% by Weight, may be dissolved by suitable mechanical agitation in a water immiscible organic solvent, such as gasoline or petroleum naphtha, benzol, 'toluol, wood or gum turpentine, or other inert'volatile organic solvent. The rosin concentration in the solution may be adjusted to any convenient amount, but preferably is not over 50% by weight. I have found that a 30% solution of the rosin is a convenient concentration to work with. If turpentine is used as the solvent,

it will be found that the solutions are more vis-,-

cous than those in benzol or gasoline. In addition, turpentine solutions offer some difficulty in the separation thereof from the aqueous solutions of the refining agents.

Although any of the solvents above listed are operable in my process and give a rosin of substantially the same degree of refinement, I have found that gasoline or petroleum naphtha is preferable because such a solvent possesses practical advantages over the others such as low cost, ease of separation from the aqueous acid layers and greater ease in the subsequent operation of water washing after the treatment is complete. By gasoline or petroleum naphtha, I mean a mixture of petroleum hydrocarbons which is liquid at ordinary temperatures, which has an initial boiling point of from about 70 toabout 140, and an end boiling point of from about 350 F. to about 450 R, which preferably covers such a range and which has a gravity of from about 45 Bto about 65 B. I prefer to use Jso-caIIed narrow range gasoline or petroleum naphtha having a boiling point ranging from about 200 F. to about 270 F.

After dilution of the crude pine oleoresin to a rosin concentration of 50% by weight or less, preferably about 30% by weight, it will be found that the associated extraneous matter and water separate to a great extent from the solution, the upper layer containing the oleoresin in the solvent while the lower layer is composed of water and the extraneous matter. The amount of the lower layer is of course dependent upon the amount of the materials in the original 0130?- resin. Some of the lighter impurities such as bark, chips, etc., float on the surface and "are removed together with the extraneous matter in the lower layer by filtration. The filtered solution on standing settles free of suspended water which may then be removed in a suitable manner. Although this Water is not unduly objectionable in the subsequent refining process, it does contain some soluble organic matter and I prefer to remove it from the oleoresin solution,

The oleoresin solution free of extraneous matter and water and preferably in petroleum naphtha solution is then treated with the aqueous chemical refining medium. The refiningragent is one which brings about improvement in rosin color grade by chemical action as distinguished from selective solvent refining.

The mechanism of the aqueous refining meth-v d of the present invention lies in the formation of water soluble salts by the combination of the refining agent with iron or other metallic contamination in the crude oleoresin. Since these salts go into solution in the water of the refining medium, they are removed when the aqueous phase is separated from the solution of .oleoresin. Preferably, this removal of the aqueous phase, following completion of the refining step, is effected by mechanically separating the aqueone phase fol-lowed'by washing the solution phase with-distilled water or other relatively pure water. The degree of refining accomplished appears to be a direct function of the .completeness of the iron removal, this iron becoming dissolved in the aqueous layer. When distilled water or other suitably pure water is employed as the refinin agent, the mechanism of the reaction is somewhatless understood but is believed to be the result of acetic acid or some other water soluble acid dissolved by the water from the rosin layer, effecting dissolution of the iron in the water layer. While reference is made to the removal of iron, the invention is not confined thereto since the process may involve removal of other metals or of color bodies generally.

Preferably, the refining agent is one which exerts a chemical refining action as distinguished from a selective solvent action upon the crude oleoresin, and which exerts substantially no polymerizing influence upon the rosin or terpene present in the crude oleoresin. In addition, it is preferred to use a refining agent which does not result in objectionable charring or discoloration of the oleoresin, since such result would defeat the purpose of the present invention to a large extent.

The purification may be accomplished by many different refining .agents, which act with widely varying degrees of efficiency, but which refine the crude oleoresin to substantially the same degree. Examples of suitable refining agents are aqueous solutions of the following compounds: acids such as organic acids such as the lower fatty water miscible acids, as for example, formic, acetic, propionic, butyric, etc.; the lower saturated dibasic acids such as oxalic, malonic, succinic, etc; inorganic acids of which sulfuric and phosphoric are preferred. Qther inorganic acids may be used, such as hydrofluoric acid, or less preferably the other hydrohalide acids such as hydrochloric, hydrobromic, and hydroiodic which, however, are somewhat objectionable :be-- cause they tend to alter the oleoresin. Sulfurous acid and boric acidhave been found satisfactory, While nitric acid may be used, it is generally undesirable because of the marked tendency to oxidize the oleoresin constituents. Instead of the inorganic polybasic acids, acid salts thereof may be used, such as for example, sodium acid fluoride, sodium acid sulfate, sodium acid sulfite, monosodium acid phosphate, etc. In some cases the normal salts may be employed, particularly, such salts as sodium hydrosulfite, sodium silicofiuoride, etc. Instead of an aqueous solution of the compound, water itself may be 'used as the refining agent. It is preferred to use distilled water or other fairly pure water in making up the solutions of the refining agent or as therefining agent where water alone is used. I

The refining agents described above vary considerably in their efficiency and in the preferred mode of application thereof, The concentration of the compound in the refining medium may vary within wide limits depending upon the mode of carrying out the treatment .and other factors.

The amount of refining compound employed may likewise vary within wide limits.

The treatment may-be conducted by washing the oleoresin solution with the refining medium, for example, by conducting the washing either at ordinary temperatures or at moderately elevated temperatures. The temperature at which the washing is carried out may vary from the freezing point of the refining medium up to the refluxing point of the mixture. Preferably, the washing is accomplished by agitatin the solution of oleoresin and the refining medium so as to bring them into intimate relationship. It will be understood that since the two phases are immiscible with one another, vigorous agitation will from about to about mam be necessary to effect the desired intimacy of admixture.and efleotiveness of. treatment.

. Instead. ofconducting the operation below the boiling point of the refining medium, it may less preferably be carried, out at the refluxing tem. perature of the mixture. If desired, a closed vessel or a. vessel. under pressure can be employed thus permitting. the use of temperatures higher than. 100". C., say. up to 150 C., the mixture being prevented from boiling or refluxing by reason of. thepressure or the closing of. the system} b l The wide variation possible in the mode of application of the aqueous refining medium maybe indicated by. thev following detailed discussion showing the general effects of various refining agents under. various conditions- 5% aqueous formic acid was found effective at room tempera-. ture. aqueous formic acid wasmuch more rapid initsrefining action. Acetic. acid in econ.- centration 'of from 0.05' to 0.1% was efiective'at the boiling temperature. Acetic acidof a 5 centration of from 5 to 50% exerted a goo fining, action at.25 C. Oxalic acidis efiee slowly in they cold, more rapidly at C. Excellent results were. obtained using 5-1292, concentration, the maximum soluble in water at room temperature. Higher concentrations, say to. 30- 60% are possible when usinghot water andcarryingout the treatment at elevated temperature. Such higher coneentrations of oxalic acidare-still more effective refining agents, The dihydrate of oxalic acid was also-found tob very effective.

Sulfuric acid is anefiective refining agent-in a-5-% concentration at room temperature, 255 30. C. However, aqueous sulfuric acid exerts satisfactory refining within the range of from about 5 to about 50% concentration. The use of concentrations markedly above 50% is not ordinarily desirable because theproduct is charred or discolored or polymerized by such-high concentrations as, for example,

Phosphoric acid is approximately twice as rapid in its refining action as sulfuric acid, being very effective in the 5% concentration at room temperature. This refining results within the range of from about 5% to about 75%. :An advantage of phosphoric acid over sulfuric is that it shows much less tendency to char, discolorize or polymerize.

Of the hydrohalide acids, hydrofluoric ispreferred especially in the lower concentrations. Good refining action without objectionable polymerization or decomposition results withthe concentration varying from about 5% up to about 40%. If desired, however, concentrations higher than 40% say to 75% may be employed: Of the other three hydrohalide acids, hydrochloric is most desirable, since it shows less-tendency to objectionably alter the oleoresin although itis'in general a less effective refining agent than for example oxalic acid, acetic acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, and the like. with concentrations of hydrochloric varying Similar concentrations of hydrobromic and hydroiodic acid may be used. The hydrohalideacid-s are readily effective at temperatures'varying from room temperature up to C.

Sodium hydrosulfite at less than 1% concentration was found efiective in the coldL' While sodium silicofluoride exerts an appreciable re-- fining action at room temperature in a concentration in the neighborhood of 0.5 to 1%, it is much more effective at the refluxing tempera- Refining occurs tivity at room temperature as 5%: sulfuric acid,

and the temperature may. range as before up to the boiling point at atmospheric pressure or higher. v 5

The amount of the chemical present in the refining medium may vary from about 0.05% to about based on the wfeight'of actual rosin present in'theoleoresin solution being treated. As will beapparent from the foregoing, the amount of the chemical refining agent present inthe refining medium is subject to variation de pendingupon-the conditions 'of'the treatment; the nature of the refining agent, and numerous other factors. Pure water is an effective refining agent. Re-' fining of the oleoresinmay beaccomplished by heating the oleoresin with the water to an elevated. temperature, and maintaining it v at this temperature for a suitableperiod of time. However, .it is preferred to reflux the solution of oleoresin with the distilled water for a'prolonged pe riod, followed if'desired by'separation of thevvater layer and washing with pure'water or repetition of the refluxing-treatment. v

If desired, uponcompletion'of'the treatment the water or aqueous layer maybe separated from the solution of 'oleoresin and the process repeated any number of times. I v

Th amount of aqueous refining medium relative to the amount of oleoresin solution may vary within'wide limits, for examplefrom about 50%- to about 300% by weight'of the aqueous solution based upon the weight of oleoresin solution taken. It is preferable'tohave present at least an amount by 'weight'of aqueous refining agent equal to theweightof oleoresin solution. I have" found'that about equal amounts of the aqueousrefining agent and the oleoresin solutionioperat ver'y satisfactorily.

Asindicated above, the time of treatment may vary within wide limits for example from about proximately five to ten minutes. For comparable refiningaction at lower temperatures, a somewhat longer period of treatmentfis desirable.

After-the treatmentof the oleoresin solution with the aqueous refining agent a pale rosin sothe oleoresin solution. and the latter is water washed to remove traces of th refining. agent. The. solvent and, accompanying turpentine are then recoveredby. distillationof the oleoresin solution anda pale rosin of high purity remains.

The aqueous refining agent may beused repeatedly for the purification of fresh batches of crude oleoresin until its elficiency is impaired,

after which it is discarded. One charge of 5% batches of a crude oleoresin solution in narrow I reuse asoline containing 30% of rosin without appreciable loss in efllciency, the operation being conducted in the cold. with 30 minutes stirring with an'acid to oleoresin solution -ratio.of.=one to one. For commercial operation, using phosphoric acid as-the refiningv agent, I havefound that the refiningof. about 80- parts by'weight of crude oleoresin solution containing-30% of rosin with 1 part of a phosphoric acid solution is an economical ratio for maximum acid life. 'With sulfuric acid this ratio will be less. :1

.If desired, the pale rosin thus-obtainedmay be further purified inanysuitable manner as for example by a selective solvent refining. I-have discovered that selective-solvent; refining of rosin derived from oleoresin purified in themanner of this invention is more efiective than the selective solvent refining of ordinary gum rosin or of gum rosin which has been chemically refined in the usual manner. Thus, by extraction of a-solution of the pale rosin derived-from chemically refined crude oleoresin in a suitable water immiscible solvent, such as petroleum naphtha with a selective solvent exerting a selectivesolvent action upon the color bodies'in the rosin, a-marked improvement in the color of the rosin may be brought about, this improvement being considerably greater than the corresponding improvement effected by selective solvent refining of rosin of a corresponding color grade, but derived from crude oleoresin which has notbeen chemically refined in accordance with the-method of the invention.

For example, rosin, oflacolor-grade of 24 -Amher or ,WG prepared by agitation ofz30% rosin solution of crude oleoresin'in narrow-range gas-- oline with half its weight of 5% aqueous sulfuric acid for two hours at roomtemperature, separa.- tion of the solution, washing the :solution-three times with pure water, and recovery of therosin by distillation, may be dissolved in narrow range gasoline to give a solution, this solution washed with freshly distilled iuriural in the ratio of one'part iurfural to one part of ;rosin, the

this manner, there is obtained a rosin of a color; grade of 7 Amber or an X+ grade which, when heat treated in the usual manner, yields a rosin of color 2.5 Amber or an X+ grade. 'Instead of furfural as the selective solvent, any other selec'-- tive solvent for rosin color bodies may be used such as furfural alcohol, aniline, chlorohydrin' such as ethylene chlorohydrin, sulfur dioxide,

phenol, resorcinol, etc. If desired,'instead of a single wash with the selective solvent, a counter cycle may be'used in known current washing manner. I

Instead of evaporating the chemically,refined oleoresin. in solution in gasoline or the like and dissolving the rosin thus obtained in gasoline or the like prior to selective solvent refining of the; chemically refined rosin, the selective solvent treatment maybe applied directly to a solution of the chemically refined oleoresiningasoline or the like. 7

Practical embodiments of the method in accordance with this invention, and the Lovibondi If the original purified'rosin" color determinations of the rosins" produced follow:

1 1 Example 1" A quantity'of crude pine oleoresin as received is dissolved in aquantityof narrow rangef gas oline '(B. R. 200?" F. to 270 F.) such that'the rosin concentration in. the solution after the latter is filtered to remove insoluble matterand settled'to remove water, is 30% by weight of the resultant solution. Two hundred parts by weight of a 5% aqueous solution of phosphoric acid are then added to 200 parts by weight of theoleo resin solution. -'I'hese two solutions were agitated together for lO'minutes at 60 C. Agitation was then stopped and the mixture allowed to separateintd two layers. The rosin solution was then separated from theaqueous layer,given threedistilled water washes after which these lution was subjected to distillation for the, recov-, ery of gasoline and turpentine, the rosin remaining as aresidue. The color of the rosin so ob? tained on. theLovibond scale was24 Amberor aIWG: grade. QThe' color of the rosin. directly obtained from theoleoresin was 40 Amber-[-05 red or grade. {Ireatment in aocordancewith my'fprocessfthus improved the rosin two grades, which is a distinct improvement.

Example 2 I A. low grade of crude pine oleoresin was treated in a manner analogous to that shown in Exam ple 1, thevariousways shown'in thefollow ing table, using gasoline, turpentine, and benzol asthe'solvents and the same rosin concentration. "Iher osim'directly recovered from the oleo resin has aLovibond color of 40 Amber-I-SLZS' redoris'aGgrade.

No. Treatment Coloroirosiu Grade I l None.. 2 2.5% aqueous sulfuric acid for 2 hours at room temperature. 3 5.0% aqueous phosphoric acid-for 30 min. at room temperature. I 4 5.0% aqueous sulfuric acid l for 1 hour. at room temperature... 5 5.0% aqueous phosphoric acid for 5 min. at 60 C.

6v 5.0% aqueous phosphoric 1 acid for 5 min. at 29 0. 7 5.0% aqueous sulfuric acid for 1% hours at room temperature. 8 6.0% aqueous sulfuric acid for 1 hr. at room tempera- Q. Hi

Turpen- N tine. Benzolm.

. ture. 9 5.0% aqueous phosphoric .do 27A WG- acid for 1 hr. at room tem- 'peratu're.

' The remarkable improvement obtained in the rosin through-my treatment of the oleoresin in accordance with thisinvention is obvious. In" the majority of cases the rosin is improved in color from a-very dark G grade to one whichgrades WG which is an improvement of six, grades.

Example 3 In order to illustrate the much higher grade of rosin obtainable by proceeding in accordance; with-my process over that by first'recovering' the rosin from the crude oleoresin in the' 'usual man-- ner and subsequently subjecting this rosinto re.- fining agents, the following experiments were carried out. All of those experiments were car-- ried out on one batch of oleoresin.

In carrying out this set of experiments the procedure was to sample the oleoresin making up the chargeot a commercial gum rosin still A composite sample of the crude oleoresinwastak-i en from each barrel of the oleoresin charged into the still. At the conclusion of the still run a sample of-the finished gum rosin was obtained for color grading andfor further refining. This rosin had been directly-heated and steamed for about two hoursat elevated temperatures in thestill during manufacture and is the base color grade of the series. It is sample 1 in the table below. 7

A portion of the gumrosinstillsample was dissolved in benzol :to give a rosin concentration of 30%, and this solution was then refined with-- an equal weightof -a.5% aqueous 'sol-ution-of-phosphori'cacid' by agitating the rosin solution with the acidsolution for 30 minutesat room temper ature. After separation of the solution from theacid-and water washing three times with distilled water, the rosin was recovered from -solution; by driving offthe solvent with direct heat and steam over-.a .periodof about-20 iminutes. 'Ihisis samp1e. 2 inthe table. V 1 v v NA gportion. 'of-the composite oleoresin sample; collected as shown above,- wasdissolved in-gasoline to give 2.30% .conc'entrationof rosin,- filtered from its accompanying foreign material and separated from. its associated water.- This solutionwas-then agitated with an equal weight of .a 5%- aqueous solution -of phosphoricxacid :for 30 minutes. at room temperature. 7 After separationot. the treated solution from the acid solution, it was water. washed three times with distilled water and the rosin recovered .byidistilling ofi the gasoline and turpentine by direct heatiand -steam over' a periodht minutes- This is sample 3 in S-the table; .11, .z. I .I 1

..;The.:. comparison of these three sample is shownin-the following-table.

$3 5 I if i PP r-Fr k "9 3 9? {oleoresin'which has hereto'fore yieldedonly darkjergrades of resin even after, purification of the rosin originally obtained from the oleo'resin by direct distillation. My process thus becomes .apflicable'to thepurification oflow grade oleoresihs forth'e production ofhigh grade .rosins.

i Example 4 fl ffCrude pine oleoresin which produced :directlya rosin of K grade wasdissolved inpetroleum ..naphtha, filtered and washed with water to yield Ia30%;solution of rosin derived from the crude oleoresin. 200 g. rof. thissol'ution. was,;gadmixe d fwith 200 g. of distilled waterandD.,2 .gt-oigoxali-c Load 'fii f .zT efi mi re w s fi xed if rs ber-F1,;;Red oral; grade I' I 1 V I s 'Examplefiz. 'Thereis preparedasolutionof oleoresin in turpentine byjdijssolving the oleoresin in ordinary 40 Amber-+7.5 Red or-a turpentine, filtering; and washing with waterf The .solution contained 30% by Weight of rosin derived from the oleoresin. To 150 g. of this solu-j tion wa s added "150g. of distilled water and 0:2 of sodiurn silico lluoriden The mixture was r fiuked foi-"twofh'oihs; g arated [fromthe refined solution, the solution, of rosin given three water washes with distilled Waterandthe rosin'recovered from the solution by evaporation of the turpentine therefrom. Therefwas obtained a'refined rosin having a color of .32 .Amber,. or. an N grade, whereas the color of the original rosin, in solution was 40 Amber+1.25 Red or a K grade.

Example 6 g There was prepared a solution "of oleor'esin yielding rosin'of K grade in petroleum naphtha, the solution. containing 30% of rosin. l50j'g. of thissolution were admixed with 200 g. of water and 1.1 g. of sodium silicofluoride. Thejrnixtur' was s'tirred overnight at room temperature. yThe treated solution was then separated from 'thg wa ter layer, given three water washes with distill d water and the rosin recovered from fthe solution by evaporation. The refined rosin had-a color of 40 A1nber+0.15 Red or an M grade, whereas the original rosin was of a color of K grade.

Example 7 There was prepared .a solution-oiioleoresin-kin petroleum naphtl' a. The oleoresin was suchas-to yielda G grade rosin. This solution contained 397 or rosin by weight. 2 0;, .of this solution filtered ,but not water washed was admixed with 200 g. of distilled water and 0.5 g. of sodiumiry It was stirredfor one hour at room temperature. 0.5 g. of sodium hydrosulfite was then addedand the stirring-,continuedfor another hour. 0-.8--'g. of sodium hydrosulfitewas then added aand the stirringcon tinued-for 30 minutes? The-refined rosin solutionwas -separatedfromfth water hydrosulfite layer, Washed-three "times with water' and evaporated "to' reco ver the rosin. The refined=ros'iii had a color of 22 1 Amber lor a; -'WG: grade, whereas the original rosin had'a colorof G -grade.

\ "flromplejf 4-AiquantityiofLcrude oleoresih yielding a K'grade rosinmvas dissolved in petroleum naphtha} to a %1 rosin concentration, *the solution being fil .tered free of trash. 1 00- g. -'-of the solution was boiled with four successive 200 g. washes of tilled 'WaterVfor-Ia periodfof two hours for each lbDll. l-zllpon "separating" the treated -ros'in solution fromithe fourthiand final water boil, its; rosin was recovered inc-the. usual nianner by evaporation.

The original rosin present in crude oleoresin arieldedma color .zoteio nmber+ 1. 25 Red-or 1a K sgradexand zcontaineddlzoozz qbiof iron. The treat-i Thewater layer was epl iron.

Example 9 1060 parts by weight of crude oleoresin were dissolved in 570'parts by weight of turpentine,

the water layer separated and the 'residual'so1u-" tion filteredgand'thesolution dissolved in an equal weightof turpentine; The resulting solution contained approximately 25%*'of rosin". 80 g. lots of the solution were washed with 200 cc. of aqueous acid, as indicated in the following table. The washing was conducted by vigorously agitating the oleoresin'solution with the aqueous acid for. Following this a' period of about 10 minutes. 7 treatment, layer separation'was allowed to take place whereupon the aqueous acid layer was removed, the solution of oleoresin washed with waterfuntil all residual acid had been removed, and thesolvent then evaporated at reduced pressure to yield the rosin Acid cont Treating Color grade Acid temperaofrosm centratwn ture obtained J T Percent Cf. Phosphoric 5 From the foregoing, it will be seen that the 50% aqueous acids are'the most-effective refining agents. However, as indicated above, for reasons of economy,it is preferred to use either phosphoric acid' or 5% sulfuric acid as the refining J r a -Ea:ampZe'10" 200 g. of asolution of crude oleoresin in narrow range gasoline containing 30% of rosin of a G grade, were admixed with 200 g. of 5%; hydro,- chlo'r'ic acid, stirring being continued for 30 min-,- litsht -45 C. After a thorough waterwashing of the solution, the rosin was recovered by evaporation of thesolvent. The product had a olol' of M- 7 I r ,=pc zip 200 g. of a solutionof crude oleoresin in narrow range gasoline containing 30% of rosin of a .Ggrade were admixed with 100 g. of. 5% sulfuric acid and 100 g of 5% nitric acid. The'mixture was stirred for one hour and 30-minutesat room temperature. The final temperature was309C. The recovered rosin hada color of K. It/will be understood that the. foregoing examples areby way of illustration only and that the scope ofmy invention is not limited thereto.

" What I claim and desire to protect by Letters ,Patentis: V V 1 a l. .Theprocess of recovering a high grade pale frosiingfrqmcrude pine oleoresinwhich has not ed rosinafterrfourwater boilshada'fcolor of 26' previously been heated to a materially'elevated. amber ofa'WG-grade and contained 0.0002% oftemperaturawhich comprises forming a solution weight of said acid, for; aperiod of'time' of from about '5 minutes to about 5 hours,separatin'grthe; resulting aqueous acid phase. from the resultin8- organic solution phase, washing ,saidi organic so-;. lution phase; with water, and evaporating; the solvent therefrom to recover as the residue the rosin contained therein.

-2.";' Ihe process of recovering a tion thereof in a water immisciblvolatilie'or-j ganicsolvent, separating said solutionfrom aqueous phase, dirt and extraneous matter; saidiso-: lution containing not more thanabout 50%'by weight of rosin, admixing said solution I inti-' mately with (at least about 50% by weightof. an aqueous solutionofphosphoric acid icon taining about 5% by' weight :of HsPO4, "for ,a period of time of from about5 minutes to about 5 hours, separating the resulting aqueous acid phase from the resulting organic solution phase, washing said organicsolution phase with water, and evaporating. the solventtherefrom to recover as the residue the" rosin contained thereimll 3. The process of recovering a high gradepale rosin from crude pine oleoresinwhich hasinot previously been heated to a' materially elevated temperature which comprises forming a solutionthereof in a water immiscible volatile organic solvent, separating said solution from aqueous phase, dirt and extraneous matter, said solution containing not more than about 5 0% bvweight of rosin, admixing said solution intimatelyj with at least about 50% by weight of an aqueous solution of sulfuric acid. containing about]5% by weight of H2SO4,'f0la period of time offroin about 5 minutes to about 5 hours, separating the resulting aqueous acid phaseffrom the resulting organic solution phase, washing said organic solution phase with water, and evaporating the sol. vent therefrom to recover as the residue the rosin contained therein. I

4, The process of recovering a high-grade pale rosin from "crude pine oleoresin which has not previously been heatedfto" a materiallyelvated temperature, which comprises forming a solution thereof in a water immiscible volatile organicsol vent, separating said solution ,rrem "aqueous phase,'dirt and extraneous matter, i said solution containing not more than. about 50%by weight of rosin, admixing said solution intimately with atleast 50% by weightjof an aqueous'solution of sulfuric acid containing between about 5% and temperature, which-comprises forminga solution thereof in a waterimmiscible volatile organic highgraide zpale rosin from .crude pine oleoresin which has not solvent, separating said solution from aqueous phase; dirt and extraneous matter, said solution containing not more than about 50% by weight of rosin, admixing said solution intimately with at least 50% by weight of an aqueous solution of phosphoric acid containing between about 5% and about 75% by weight of phosphoric acid,

separating the resulting aqueous acid phase from the resulting organic solution phase, washing said organic solution phase with water, and evapcrating the solvent therefrom to recover as the 5 residue the rosin contained therein. ,7

DONALD A. LISTER; 

